Opera says lack of IE in EU Windows 7 not good enough

Makers of the Opera Mobile web browser some of you may be using on your mobile devices, Opera ASA, said today that Microsoft’s plan to ship Windows 7 to Europe without Internet Explorer is insufficient to restore competition to the browser industry.

Opera ASA is a Norwegian company that makes the competing web browser which routinely gets well below a 1% worldwide browser market share, though they were one of the first and most standards-compliant companies out there. They have long argued that Microsoft’s dominance in the browser market was not due to any great feature set of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, but simply because it was included in every version of Windows.

Opera’s CTO, Hakon Wium Lie said to Reuters:

I don’t think what Microsoft announced is going to restore competition. I don’t think it’s going to be enough, I don’t think it will get them off the hook.

An EU Commission official said the EU watchdog will examine Microsoft’s conditions for shipping Windows 7 without Internet Explorer. The official said:

We never suggested that they have to sell Windows without Internet Explorer. We suggested that they might have to give the possibility to customers to chose between different browsers.

It has surprised many that Microsoft agreed to ship its Windows 7 operating system without Internet Explorer bundled as part of its base feature set. However, Microsoft did not fully remove the product, allowing for a relatively simple installation process which would, after the user started up Windows 7 and accessed that control panel function, allow it to be downloaded and installed with relative ease.

Opera, Netscape and other web browser makers argue that the feature which should be there is not only the ability to download Internet Explorer directly from such a built-in Windows 7 control panel, but also the ability to download other popular browsers, thereby truly restoring competition.

Microsoft has to introduce the ability to install at least the top 5 or 10 web browsers which have a permanent presence online. There are significant efforts in moving forward for Firefox, Safari, Chrome, Opera, and even Netscape and others. The only real way to introduce competition is to make it a one-stop-shop for web browser selection.

If I can go to the Windows 7 control panel feature and install Internet Explorer natively, but must visit a website and download and install a third-party browser, then how is that really helping competition?

People need web browsers these days. Period. End of discussion. To deny them an equal ability to choose is to still tip the tables in favor of Microsoft’s browser. And this is simply the very thing the EU recently ruled against Microsoft in their (until Intel’s later fine) record anti-trust fine.

Competition is required to produce the best product. And Microsoft’s closed-source efforts are designed entirely to keep competition as far away from Windows as long as possible.

Speak Your Mind

awesomeo

This isn’t about competition. This is about Microsoft being allowed to develop their OWN freaking software. Even if they gave people these options, the people that use IE now will choose IE, the people that use Firefox will choose Firefox, etc. Opera isn’t ranked below 1% because of MS. They’re ranked there because people prefer other browsers. How else could Firefox have a near 25% browser share? Hell, even the newcomer Chrome has a 1.82% share!

This is about pandering to a company based in EU jurisdiction. If you want an alternate browser uninstall IE after you download it, carry it around on a flash drive, whatever. MS isn’t some equal opportunity browser supplier. They make a product and if you don’t like it, stfu.

jsol13

Well said! I don’t understand anti-competitive laws as it applies to software packages. People who have no idea how computers/hardware/software work are trying to enforce laws that really have no bearing on the technology market. When I purchase the Windows operating system, I am purchasing a collection of programs to make my computer do every (basic) function it is supposed to do. By anti-competitive law interpretation, Photoshop is being snubbed in the market place because Microsoft includes Paint with Windows. I choose to run the software I run. If I wanted an alternative program, there are plenty available. Don’t like Windows, try the thousand variations of Linux that are available for free. Don’t like IE, download Firefox, Chrome, or Opera. Don’t like Photoshop, download Gimp. Hey EU! DO SOME RESEARCH on what the browser market consists of. FREE PROGRAMS. Kind of hard to calculate an actual loss of profit based on free software against free software that was bundled with an OS.

Miss Malevolent

Awesomeo is exactly correct.

I ALWAYS use Firefox…hardly ever use IE unless explicitly told to by a website…and even I think this is utter nonsense.

It is not up to Microsoft to give a leg up to its competition…they should only be worried about their products and servicing them…Opera should stop looking for a handout and start looking at how they can drive people to want to download their product.

Progamefreak

And microsoft has to pay Fines by EU why? Microsoft is an American Company.

As Far as Firefox, Safari, Chrome, Opera, and even Netscape and others gos STFU. If people want to use your lame ass WEB Browers then make a TV ad. I really don’t see what the big deal is!

Microsoft is giving us a FREE browers with Windows. Microsoft owns Windows, NOT EU.

Jim M.

Opera basically wants MS to advertise them for free.

Regulas

I agree, Opera is pushing the limits. Last time I checked (couple years ago) Opera charged for their browser, hence the reason Firefox has a much larger market share. I switched my one windows rig that does not have Anti-Virus software installed (Gaming) too Chrome because I read that Chrome is the most secure because of it’s sandbox design, memory usage.
Note: I do not use my gaming rig to cruise the net. My Linix laptop does a fine job.
I do agree with Opera in a way. MS has been shown to not comply with WEB ISO standards with IE knowing they have such a large market share. This was done on purpose to have people write/gear toward IE and shut out compliant browsers.
Remember last year with the fiasco about the Open Document Standard ISO that MS bullied/bribed and anything else they could do to shove their non standard proprietary XML crap through.
Yes, MS is a convicted monopolist and I have watched them since the beginning. Maybe that is why I only use their OS for gaming.
PS Open Office rocks

Regulas

What kind of draconian moderaters are running this site.
OK maybe you will post this, praise be Geek.com

OpenSauce

Not including IE doesn’t educate PC buyers to what web browsers are out there, but including others or links to others would.

FACT: When I ask a user on a Windows support call to open Windows Explorer, they open… you’ve got it, Internet Explorer.

FACT: When I ask a user on a Windows support call to open a web browser, they don’t know what one is!

I agree manufacturers should include alternatives, especially as non MS web browsers stick with the standards, not a superset of the web standards.

As a parallel example. look at DVD playback in Windows XP.
Most manufacturers included PowerDVD or WinDVD (probably based on DVD drive manufacturer deal). Yet there has been no big complaint about this duopoly AFAIK.
Now some versions of Vista include DVD playback support & knocking out the competition…

Dave Papajcik

Ok, Opera is being pushy now. Ideally, some sort of web browser should be bundled with any operating system. Top 5 or 10? IE, Firefox, Opera, Chrome and Safari. Those are the top browsers (not including version numbers). But you would have to be retarded to use Safari on Windows, so thats a no-no. And Rick, did you mention Netscape? That peice of junk from the past? No. You do not use Netscape. If you do, then please open mouth, insert gun.

Personally, I use a combination of IE and Firefox, though I do like Opera somewhat, I find its desktop browser to be lacking – a lot of websites still go crazy. Firefox is where I do my different web development stuff – Firebug, but its not perfect. I don’t like Firefox’s download manager. And Firefox still chokes on some types of content and websites (not too many). IE8 (on Windows 7) is where I do my general browsing.

Arjun

I just uninstalled Opera from my existing machines. They are now just a useless company in my eyes.

Cody Jackson

I’ve been using Opera for use and am continually impressed with the new features they come out with. However, I keep other browsers around for times when web sites refuse to work with “non-standard” browsers; sometimes spoofing the browser ID doesn’t work.

I’m of two minds with this. I agree w/ Opera that other browsers should get the same ease of installation that IE gets. However, unless MS does something like Rick suggests, the user needs a browser installed by default to really do anything.

I don’t want to see a return to the days when a new computer is cluttered w/ additional crapware. Having each browser vendor cutting a deal to have their icons on the desktop will just piss off customers and drive them away.